Clover-thrasher



(ModeL) J. E. WOODARD & W. B. BENNET.

Glove-r Thrasher. I No. 233,719. Patented Oct. 26, I880.

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N. PETERS, PROTD-UTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Price.

JOHN E. WOODARD AND WILLIAM B. BENNET, OF PORTAGE, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO KIRK A. SMITH, OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN.

CLOVER-THRASHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,719, dated October 26, 1880.

Application filed March 3, 1880.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that we, JOHN E. WooDARD and WILLIAM B. BENNET, of Portage, county of Kalamazoo, State of Michigan, respectively, have invented new and useful Improvements in Glover-Thrashers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to convert a wheat-thrashcr into a temporary device for thrashing clover-seed by the construction and use of a detachable perforated plate or plates, as hereinafter described Our invention consists in a plate of metal or other suitable material of sufficient size, or

of a sufficient number of a given size, to cover the upper surface, or under if for any reason it should be deemed practicable, of the bottom of the first or straw shaker of a grain-thrasher, said plate or plates having perforations, as

shown in the drawings forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device adjusted to a shaker; Fig. 2, surface view of perforated plate; and Fig. 3, a sectional side 2 elevation of a grain-thrasher, showing the relative position of shakers in such machines. Fig. 4 is a plan view of one perforated plate.

0 is the straw-shaker, which conveysthe straw coming from the cylinder to the ele- 0 vator leading to the stack. The bottom of said shaker is constructed of slats E E, running crosswise, with spaces left between them to' allow the grain to fall through onto the lower shaker, D.

Often, in connection with shaker G, liftingforks F F are used, which vibrate up and down briskly when the shaker is vibrating, thus assisting in separating the grain from the straw. These forks are deemed of special 0 utility in thrashing clover.

B B are the perforated plates, the holes 0 6 being of suitableshape and size, usually round, to allow clover chaif and seed to shake through them. These plates B B are made 5 of a size corresponding to the size of the shaker-bottom spaces between the rows of lifting-forks F F, and are constructed to be (ModeL) detachably connected with the bed of said shaker by means of screws J, or buttons or equivalent modes of temporary fastening.

In machines where lifting-forks F F are not used the plate B may be coi'lstructed large enough to cover the whole shaker-bottom, or the several sections may be joined against or lapped over each other at the edges. so long as they are detachably connected with the bed of said shaker to effect our objects.

The advantages and novel features of our invention are apparent when we consider that shaker O,'with slats E E, is only suitable for thrashinglarge grain, owing to the large spaces between said slats, whereas shakers having stationary perforated bottoms suitable for cloverseed would be of no utility for thrashing grain. Hence by inserting our detachable perforated plate or plates over the shaker-bottom, as specified, we make a temporary successful cloverthrasher out of a grain-thrasher, and by takingthem out con vert. itback to agrain-thrasher again, thus saving the expense of two distinct 7o machines.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure, is

1. The straw-shaker of a grain-thrasher, in combination with the perforated plate or plates B, detachably connected with the bed of said shaker, substantially as set forth, whereby a grain-thrasher is temporarily converted into a cloverthrashcr.

2. The combination, with the shaker O of a grain-thrasher having lifting-forks F F, of the detachable sectional perforated plates B, applied to said shaker between the shafts of said lifting-forks, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the straw-shaker of a grain-tln'asher, of the detachable sectional perforated plates B B, adapted to be applied to said shaker above the bed thereof, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN E. YVOODARD. WM. B. BENNET. Witnesses:

KIRK A. SMITH, F. H. TUIHILL. 

